Thursday, May 24, 2012

A King, a King, and a King

So, on the
one hand, we have the charming King Samir Shabazz of the New Black Panther Party proclaiming his abiding hatred for white people: “I hate the oppression
of white people, I hate the murder and the rape and the torture and the taking
away of our names, our culture, our God, our music and damn, I hate this cracker for everything he has
done to us.” He tells us
we should be glad he and his pals aren’t hanging white folks—“yet.” Thanks,
your majesty. I’m sure your activities will make life better for everyone.

On the other hand, after a demonstration
of sign-waving by a cadre of five guys in sheets, people in Reidsville, NC,
received invitations to a rally. “Free Admition (sic)-White People Only. No alcohol, drugs, fighting, glass bottles
or weapons. Free on site camping-all major motels in area. Souvenirs. Vendors.
Food and beverages for Sale.
Cross lighting at dusk-a white unity event. Live country band. Security
provided by LWK.” Souvenirs? Like, a hood with your name embroidered on it?

Over the last couple of decades, the KKK
became more and more a joke. While they used to hold tremendous power in the
South and the Midwest (Really; look it up.),
they became an anachronism that most people scorned. At the moment, the NBPP
and the KKK may be equals in number and lunacy. I do wonder, though, whether
the refusal of the current Justice Department to prosecute the Panthers for
little things like voter intimidation might inspire more “white rage.” We had a
dozen or so armed-compound, ready-for-the-race-war loons arrested recently near
Orlando. Law
enforcement has done pretty well at taking out the white crackpots. Not so well
on the black crackpots. Oh, Mr. Holder, doesn’t equality mean, you know,
holding everyone to the same standard? Just a thought.

But, meanwhile, out here in everyday life,
where people are earning a living, keeping their brains in gear, and not
searing their souls to ashes, life is a whole lot better in the race department
than it was when I was a kid. A couple weeks ago, I was on my way into an Olive
Garden for lunch with the church ladies. On his way out was a tall black man
dressed sharply in dark trousers, a vest, white dress shirt and dark tie. He
held by the hand a little boy dressed exactly the same. The sight stopped me in
my tracks. I put my hand on my chest like the old-fashioned old lady I somehow
became without noticing, and I uttered something like “This is so cute, I can
hardly stand it.” The proud dad smiled.

So what’s the big deal? In my younger
days, that charming man and his charming son would not have been allowed into
Olive Garden. If they could buy food there, it would be through the “colored
window.” As a girl, I watched TV news reports of the lunch counter sit-ins.
Brave, principled, self-controlled young black people walked into drugstores
and sat down at the soda fountain/lunch counter. (Is there such a thing any
more?) White clerks quickly set up “lunch counter closed” signs. Sometimes,
white yahoos screamed at the sitters from behind, squeezed ketchup onto their
heads and dropped cigarette ashes into their hair. Nevertheless, they kept the
faith, kept calm and kept coming back. And guess what: they won. Jim Crow laws
are gone.

Another restaurant scene left me happy,
relieved and hopeful. In walked two women, one black, one white, together. They
were dressed like office workers. After they sat down, the waitress came to
take their orders. Pardon my stereotyping, but she looked the part of a redneck—bleached
blonde pony tail pulled tight, the face rather pinched looking. A generation
ago, women like her screamed at school buses. On this day, she took a black
woman’s order without a ripple and brought her the food she asked for. To this
one-time observer of “white” and “colored” water fountains, the scene was
momentous, precisely because it had become ordinary. The Klan couldn’t prevent
it, and the Panthers can’t take any credit for it. Thank Martin Luther King, Jr.,
and all sorts of people of good will who listened when called to uphold the
principles of our founding. And thank the God who endows all with inalienable
rights. That is the way.

2 comments:

Love it. Nice and normal, just how it should be. I loved your examples, and the sweet old lady gesture at the OG :)

I will say I took a gander at the KKK website, and I think officially they aren't for the rallies mentioned above. They seem more concerned with writing letters to our representatives to end Affirmative Action, race-led decisions on college admissions, special tax breaks for minority-owned companies (which aren't minorities any more), etc. Interesting.

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About Me

Asked at a writer's conference to tell what my gift (assuming I had one) as a writer might look like, I said "a magnifying glass." I look at the details of just about everything and try to get a grip on the world that way. It makes me a good editor, a fairly interesting person to talk to, and sometimes a pain in the neck. Born in Montana to parents from New York City, I grew up in Florida, went to college in Boston. Having worked as a newspaper reporter, gotten married and had four babies, and done some freelance writing and editing, I keep on trying to get to the bottom of things.